1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective cover or cap for an installed drain pipe flange adapted for mounting toilet bowls. In particular, the present invention relates to a cover which protects the toilet bowl flange and which protects and holds the mounting bolts for the toilet bowl.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a well developed prior art in the use of mounting flanges for toilet bowls on drain or discharge pipe. Illustrative are the flanges described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,181,585; 3,339,215; and 4,090,267. The current building practice is to use plastic pipe extending from a plastic mounting flange for the toilet bowl.
The mounting flange includes two opposed semicircular slots on the flat receiving surface of the flange which allow for inserting and then locking mounting bolts perpendicular to the surface. An especially useful prior art mounting bolt includes a plastic head with internal threads for a correspondingly threaded stem or stud. The head has lateral projections or ears on two opposing sides to loosely hold the bolt head in place in the slot in the flange prior to mounting the toilet bowl.
One problem which has been faced by the prior art is that the flange is installed on the drain pipe early in the building construction long before the toilet bowl is in place. Current practice is to cover the flange opening with duct tape, paper, burlap bags or anything handy which are easily dislodgable. As a result, the debris from construction most often goes through the opening in the flange and into the drain pipe causing plugging. Since the flange is on the floor, debris almost always accumulates in the pipe. The flange openings and face can become encrusted with tile grout. Cleaning is time consuming and expensive and the flange can be broken. U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,851 describes a flange which incorporates an integral knockout plug; however, there is a chance that the flange can be damaged in the removal of the plug. The flange is still subject to damage before the toilet bowl is mounted.
Another prior art procedure is hydrostatic testing after the flange is installed on the drain pipe. Current practice is to use plugs or expandable rubber balls to block the opening in the flange. These plugs are expensive and are not left in the flange after testing is completed so that the toilet bowl receiving surface of the flange is not protected. These devices do not produce a positive seal in the flange opening and do not test the flatness of the flange face.